ATACAMA CROSSING – STAGE 3 OF 6

Last night I got a full-night’s sleep, nearly three uninterrupted hours. It made all the difference. Today, I felt a little less spaced-out than I have since arriving in Chile. This entire experience has been somewhat like a technicolor hallucination anyway, the Atacama Desert looking less like planet earth than a cross between the moon and Mars, layering extreme sleep-deprivation on top has been like entering an Alice in Wonderland story.

Strange as it seems, three hours of sleep made a world of difference. Not only was my head in the game today, my body finally performed a little better. On a day that was filled with incredibly varied challenges: crusty salt flats, head-high reeds to navigate through, sand dunes the size of small mountains, and radiating heat, I glided through it feeling pretty strong. I attribute it to getting three hours of sleep, the most I’ve gotten since the racing began. And yes, I’ll be proudly wearing the Yellow Jersey again tomorrow.

Of course, great as I feel today, tomorrow could be a different story. Of the three athletes attempting to be the first to run all of the 4 Desert events in one calendar year, one is already out. A remarkably talented Danish athlete who spent the better part of a year training for the challenge, Jimmy Olsen was forced to abandon his quest before the conclusion of the first 4 Desert race. He had been in Chile for two weeks prior to the Atacama Crossing, training and preparing, and was extremely disappointed to suffer a recurring ankle injury which forced him to DNF. We met before his departure back to Denmark and made a pack that I would carry on for the both of us.

So Jimmy, that Yellow Jersey today is a tribute to you my brother. As for the remaining days and weeks of racing, I’ll do my best, just taking it one step at a time. And trying to get some sleep along the way…